1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hygiene product having a folded sanitary napkin wrapped in a packaging sheet, more particularly, relates to a hygiene product having a release sheet covering garment surfaces of wing portions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, sanitary napkins are individually packaged so as to keep them clean. The term xe2x80x9chygiene productxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to such an individually packaged sanitary napkin. For example, a long sanitary napkin is wrapped in a packaging sheet formed of a resin film or the like, while being folded in three or four plies.
FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C are perspective views showing a conventional hygiene product 10. This hygiene product 10 comprises an individually packaged sanitary napkin 1. The sanitary napkin 1 has an elongated main body portion and wing portions 2, 2 projecting from transversely opposed side edges of the main body portion. On garment surfaces of the wing portions 2, 2, there are provided pressure sensitive adhesive layers 3, 3, respectively. On a garment surface of the main body portion, on the other hand, there are provided pressure sensitive adhesive layers 4, 4.
This sanitary napkin 1 is packaged as follows. At first, the wing portions 2, 2 are folded back against a body surface of the main body portion, and then the pressure sensitive adhesive layers 3, 3 are covered with a release sheet 5. Thereafter, the sanitary napkin 1 and the release sheet 5 are laid on a packaging sheet 6 so that the pressure sensitive adhesive layers 4, 4 can adhere to a release-treated portion of the packaging sheet 6. The packaging sheet 6, the sanitary napkin 1 and the release sheet 5 thus stacked are first folded about a first fold axis 8a into a state of FIG. 9C. Then, they are folded about a second fold axis 8b into a state of FIG. 9B. At this time, an exterior surface of the release sheet 5 is adhered to an exterior surface of the packaging sheet 6 through an adhesive 7 applied to a front portion of the release sheet 5. Finally, they are folded about a third fold axis 8c into a state of FIG. 9A where only the packaging sheet 6 externally appears. Then, transversely opposed side portions of the packaging sheet 6 are sealed to provide sealed portions 9, 9 by heat embossing, and the front end of the packaging sheet 6 is secured by a lead tape 11.
This hygiene product 10 can be opened by peeling off the lead tape 11 and breaking the sealed portions 9, 9 to unfold the packaging sheet 6. At this time, since the packaging sheet 6 and the release sheet 5 are bonded to each other through the adhesive 7, the release sheet 5 is unfolded together with the packaging sheet 6, as shown in FIG. 10, so that the release sheet 5 is peeled from the pressure sensitive adhesive layers 3, 3 on the wing portions 2, 2. The packaging sheet 6 is further unfolded from the state of FIG. 10, and peeled from the pressure sensitive adhesive layers 4, 4 on the garment surface of the main body portion.
In the conventional hygiene product 10, the release sheet 5 separates from the sanitary napkin 1 at the time when the packaging sheet 6 is unfolded to the state of FIG. 10. That is, the pressure sensitive adhesive layers 3, 3 on the garment surfaces of the wing portions 2, 2 are exposed externally at an early stage of the opening procedure. Therefore, they may possibly adhere to the hand of a user or a garment at a subsequent stage of the opening procedure. In this case, the sanitary napkin 1 becomes difficult to wear. In addition, since an adhesive force of the pressure sensitive adhesive layers 3, 3 is decreased, the wing portions 2, 2 cannot certainly adhere to an outer side of a short panty when the sanitary napkin 1 is put on a crotch portion of the short panty.
In addition, since the body surface (liquid-receiving surface) of the main body portion of the sanitary napkin 1 is exposed externally at the beginning of the opening procedure, as shown in FIG. 10, there is a high probability that the hand of a user will contact the liquid receiving surface. Therefore, it is difficult to keep the sanitary napkin 1 clean.
The present invention has been worked out in view of the shortcoming in the prior art set forth above. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hygiene product which can be opened without externally exposing pressure sensitive adhesive layers of wing portions and a body surface of a sanitary napkin at an early stage of an opening procedure, so that the sanitary napkin can be easily handled upon wearing and can be kept clean, as well as the sanitary napkin can be readily separated from a packaging sheet and a release sheet.
According to the present invention, there is provided a hygiene product comprising:
a sanitary napkin including an elongated main body portion having longitudinally opposed front and rear ends and wing portions protruding from transversely opposed side edges of the main body portion and folded back against a body surface of the main body portion;
a release sheet covering pressure sensitive adhesive layers provided on garment surfaces of the wing portions; and
a packaging sheet having a release-treated portion covering a pressure sensitive adhesive layer provided on a garment surface of the main body portion, a stack of the packaging sheet, the sanitary napkin and the release sheet being so folded into the hygiene product that only the packaging sheet is exposed externally, wherein
a rear protruding portion of the packaging sheet protruding rearwardly from the rear end of the sanitary napkin is folded back against an exterior surface of the release sheet which is not adhered to the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions, and the rear protruding portion of the packaging sheet is bonded to the exterior surface of the release sheet at a position spaced rearwardly away from the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions, wherein
the stack is further folded at least once so that the front end of the sanitary napkin and a front edge of the packaging sheet adjacent to the front end of the sanitary napkin are laid on an exterior surface of the packaging sheet which is exposed externally.
In the hygiene product of the present invention, since the bond where the release sheet is fixed to the packaging sheet is positioned rearwardly away from the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions, the release sheet can remain adhered to the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions until a final stage of a procedure for opening the hygiene product. Therefore, the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions can be prevented from being exposed externally at an early stage. In addition, most of the body surface of the main body portion can also be prevented from being exposed externally at an early stage. Since the release sheet and the packaging sheet are connected to each other through an adhesive, the packaging sheet can be separated together with the release sheet from the sanitary napkin when the packaging sheet is peeled from the garment surface of the main body portion, thereby facilitating the opening procedure.
Preferably, an interior surface of the packaging sheet having the release-treated portion thereon is bonded to the exterior surface of the release sheet.
In the case where the interior surface of the packaging sheet is bonded to the exterior surface of the release sheet, the bond can be easily provided at a position away from the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions, as compared with the case where the exterior surface of the packaging sheet is bonded to the exterior surface of the release sheet. Therefore, an excessive peeling force hardly acts on the release sheet when the stack is unfolded during the opening procedure, so that the release sheet can be maintained for a relatively long time in a position covering the pressure sensitive adhesive layers of the wing portions.
In one embodiment, it is possible that the stack is folded about a first fold axis to form a first folded portion where the rear protruding portion is laid on the exterior surface of the release sheet and a bond where the rear protruding portion is bonded to the exterior surface of the release sheet, wherein
the stack is further folded about a second fold axis positioned between the bond and the rear end of the sanitary napkin to form a second folded portion where the first folded portion is laid on the body surface of the main body portion of the sanitary napkin, wherein
the front end of the sanitary napkin and the front edge of the packaging sheet is laid on the second folded portion and transversely opposed side portions of the packaging sheet are sealed.
If the stack is thus folded, the hygiene product can be made compact for the carrying convenience.